Rotation could have been planned better

By Abhishek Paul

New Delhi (Mail Today): The debate over the Indian cricket team’s rotation policy in the tri-series may not end soon, but former international stars Kapil Dev and Dean Jones feel that it could have been planned in a much better way.Tendulkar will have to retire from one format, feels Dean Jones.

Former Australian international Jones said it was certainly not wise to rotate players when the team was going through a rough phase. “The Australians have been following the rotation policy since 1987 but there’s a science behind it,” he said.

“When the team is doing good, then you can push in one player to give him exposure, but not while the team is doing bad.”

India’s first World Cup-winning captain Kapil felt that with the team performing poorly abroad, the Indian cricket board should be proactive in turning things around.

“It’s up to the BCCI to draw a future road map and if the senior players are in their scheme of things, then it’s fine. If not, then the players will have to understand,” Kapil said.

Kapil added that the Board should also review India’s performance after the Australian tour comes to an end.

“After the series the BCCI, the players and the selectors should sit together to find out what exactly went wrong,” he said.

He was quick to add that at the moment the Indian team needed encouragement more than criticism. “We should encourage the players to play tight and win the matches. We are the world champions and we should play like world champions,” Kapil said.

While the team has failed time and again on the tour Down Under, the performance of the seniors too has come under the scanner, with question rising if ageing stars like Sachin Tendulkar should continue or not.

Kapil felt Sachin should have retired much earlier.

“My opinion is that Sachin should have retired after the World Cup. Sachin has achieved so much, what more can we expect from the little man,” Kapil said.

Jones said it is difficult for Sachin to continue doing well in all three formats of the game.

“It’s difficult for Sachin to consistently do well in all the formats. Sooner or later, he will have to retire from one format,” he said.

The two were speaking on the sidelines of a cricket clinic for kids organised by the Australian High Commission. The premier of Victoria, Ted Baillieu, was also present and said they would will be working hard to secure the 2015 ICC World Cup final for the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“The MCG is one of the finest cricket grounds in the world and the only ground in Australia with the capacity to host a final of such monumental proportions, so it is the natural choice to host the 2015 ICC World Cup final,” Baillieu said.


Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2012. MTNPL. All rights reserved.